How Much Social Media is Enough?

With everyone talking about social media becoming the future of marketing, the question has become, “How much should I be using social media to market my hotel?”

The answer to that question is different for every hotel. Yes, social media is part of the future (and present) but it should not completely replace your existing marketing strategy. To market your hotel effectively online you need to have a comprehensive marketing program, that works together to tell your hotel’s story in a way that connects with your audience.

This brings us back to our original question, how much social media?

Updating your social media pages once a week is not enough. You need to provide your consumers with up-to-date content on a regular basis. If you keep your consumers engaged, you will ensure they continue to interact with your pages. Posting regularly – pictures, photos, comments – to your accounts will guarantee they always have something new to look at. Put yourself in a guests shoes and think about what they would want to know before and after they book a stay with your hotel. Be sure to provide them information about the surrounding areas in addition to telling your hotel’s story.

That being said, it’s not always about quantity. Vincent Ramelli, CEO of WIHP sums it up nicely in this article when he says “Social media means you have something interesting to say, regularly. And let me guarantee you “we have nice rooms” isn’t something to say.” You need quantity to keep the consumers engaged, but if it lacks quality they won’t keep coming back.

To better understand what makes a successful page post, Facebook Studio examined four weeks of Page posts, across 23 brands and six industries. They concluded that posts on topics related to your brand, but not specifically about your products or services were the types of posts that drove the most engagement. Ie.” I decided to go on my first cruise because______.”

Using Facebook shouldn’t be a daunting task. Consumers are simply looking for content online that will help them better understand your hotel. Create your story and then make use of the technology and tools available to you that allow you to make the biggest impact on them. Apps on your Facebook page can help you achieve this. They push consumers to interact with your page and become more engaged with your hotel. Our VBrochure Facebook Apps Suite contains 5 flexible apps that use visual media to highlight all of your hotel’s features. It provides you with the tools to further customize your page, highlight what matters most, and manage everything all in one place. It allows you to minimize the amount of work and resources needed to maintain the maximum impact of your page on consumers.

The amount that hotel marketers should be using social media will vary with every hotel. To ensure that your hotel is using social media enough ask yourself, “Do my social media accounts give travel shoppers an experience of what it would be like to stay at me hotel?” The answer should undoubtedly be yes. If your social media accounts are telling your hotel’s story in an engaging and interactive way, then you are using social media enough.

John McAuliffe has been President of Leonardo since June 2012 after four successful years as Chief Marketing Officer, helping the organization develop and implement a scalable sales and marketing foundation. John leads all commercial activity for Leonardo including sales, marketing, product management, post-sales success and professional services. As a 25+ year marketing veteran and entrepreneur, John is a professional with hands on experience in leading market-driven strategies for disruptive technologies. Previous to Leonardo, John led the sales and marketing function of a Silicon Valley technology firm where he implemented a web based demand generation program that helped turn the company into a sales and marketing innovator that experienced significant growth and profitability. John was the President and COO of a mid-size Canadian advertising agency which he transformed into an integrated communications firm and early provider of digital marketing services. John is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario and has taken post graduate studies in Strategic Marketing Management at University of Toronto and Harvard University.